Wood struggled the last two weeks. In blowout losses to Oregon State and Oregon, Wood was a combined 25 of 67 (.373) for 351 yards with two touchdowns and four interceptions. Including wins over Colorado State and Central Arkansas to start the season, Wood is 81-of-149 (.544) for 1,092 yards with eight TDs and six interceptions. He’s 11th in the Pac-12 in pass efficiency at 125.6.

Against Oregon he started out 5-of-13 for 122 yards with two interceptions. He played the entire game.

BOULDER — Jordan Webb, Colorado’s starting quarterback last year, is back in pads and practicing with the team but coach Mike MacIntyre said Tuesday that Webb will face a one-game suspension when he heals.

On Wednesday he pled guilty plea to third-degree assault stemming from an on-campus fight involving former teammate Alex Lewis and an Air Force Academy cadet.

After tearing his ACL in spring ball, Webb has been cleared to do everything but live contact. He’s currently doing individual drills, throwing routes without a defense and doing seven-on-seven drills.

CU quarterback Jordan Webb, can’t escape the pursuit of Cory James, gets sacked in the second quarter during the Rocky Mountain Showdown.

Regarding the Rocky Mountain Showdown, you’ll hear from players on both sides, from the Colorado perspective and from the Colorado State perspective, that a victory in the intrastate rivalry is critical to their season and can be an indicator for what the season may become.

For example:

“This game is important,” CSU offensive guard Brandon Haynes said of Sunday’s meeting at Sports Authority Field at Mile High, “because it’s a great way to start the season off, for momentum and stuff like that.”

That’s fine, and true to a point. Coaches say it’s easier for a team to learn and improve off a victory than it is off a loss.

However, research shows that a victory in the Rocky Mountain Showdown does not necessarily portend a successful season — for either side.

That’s especially the case when the Showdown is a team’s season opener.

Since the series resumed on an annual basis beginning with the 1995 game, Colorado has won eight times when the Showdown was CU’s season opener. Coming of those eight first-game victories over CSU, the Buffs have compiled an overall record of 49-49.

Colorado State has fared a bit better after defeating CU in the Rams’ season opener, but not by much.

Since 1995, CSU has four wins over the Buffs when the game was the Rams’ season opener. CSU’s overall record for those four seasons: 25-23.

Here are additional quotes from McElwain about the intrastate rivalry that were not included in today’s story because of space limitations:

“First and foremost, these are two state universities,” McElwain said. “I’ve been involved, when I was in Louisville, of playing Kentucky in the SEC. You see those great (interconference) rivalries, even Iowa-Iowa State. It means something to the people in the state.

“At the end of the day, we’re Colorado State University. They’re University of Colorado. So it means something to the people who got those degrees from there. It’s about the instate rivalry. I just think it’s something that makes college football something special.”

BOULDER — Jordan Webb, last year’s starting quarterback, was working out his surgically repaired knee at Colorado’s second practice Wednesday. He tore the ACL in spring ball and Wednesday he jogged, did some light cutting and threw to teammates with a bulky brace on his right knee.

“He’s ahead of schedule,” coach Mike MacIntyre said.

Webb needs a lot to happen before he can contribute this year. Besides healing the knee and the rise of junior quarterback Connor Wood, Webb faces a second-degree assault charge. Even if he’s cleared there is no guarantee he’ll be back on the 105-man roster.

“I have got to see what they decide,” MacIntyre said. “Whatever they decide I’ve got to figure out exactly the decision on the type of discipline we would do.”

Webb will be arraigned Sept. 16 when he can enter a not guilty plea and set a court date or take a plea deal. He and ex-teammate Alex Lewis allegedly fought a cadet from the Air Force Academy on campus May 11.

MacIntyre said if his knee doesn’t heal and he clears up his legal issues, he could red-shirt and play at a Division II school next year. Webb is listed as a senior but has already graduated.

BOULDER — Coaches haven’t told me this but I bet they’d like to see JC-transfer Jordan Gehrke, one of their latest signees, to take a firm hold on the backup quarterback position behind junior Connor Wood. That would allow true freshman Sefo Liufau, one of coach Mike MacIntyre’s prize recruits, to red-shirt.

MacIntyre told me at Pac-12 Media Day that Liufau will not red-shirt if it’s clear he’s Wood’s best backup. Last year’s starter, Jordan Webb, could also come back from his knee injury and pending assault charge to provide more depth behind Wood later this season. Sophomore Stevie Joe Dorman, although listed second on the depth chart, appears to be the darkhorse.

I thought Liufau would get a chance to start, but Wood worked in the pistol offense at Texas and was vastly improved this spring. Liufau’s second practice at Colorado was Wednesday.

“Connor’s been doing well,” MacIntyre said. “All the other guys have been doing good, too.”

CULVER CITY, Calif. — I sat down with new Colorado coach Mike MacIntyre at lunch during Friday’s Pac-12 Football Media Day and asked him about his depleted quarterback corps. With Nick Hirschman’s defection to Akron, Jordan Webb’s knee injury and pending assault charge and Shane Dillon’s decision to try basketball, he’s down to four quarterbacks.

The most curious decision was Dillon’s. The redshirt freshman, somewhat ballyhooed during last year’s redshirt season, was considered the insider’s candidate to emerge from spring ball first string. He came out a distant third. Still, with Hirschman’s decision to leave after he was only named co-No. 1 with fellow-junior Connor Wood, Dillon could have been one twisted knee from starting this year.

I asked MacIntyre if he could tell Dillon’s heart wasn’t into football. He said yes and I told him he seemed so enthusiastic before spring ball.Read more…

COLORADO SPRINGS — Some of the alumni who’ve popped into the Colorado Coaches Caravan have asked first-year football coach Mike MacIntyre about his quarterback situation.

It’s better but as shallow as Boulder Creek.

Junior Nick Hirschman transferred to Akron, even though he finished spring tied atop the depth chart with junior Connor Wood. Senior Jordan Webb, a starter for most of last year, blew out his knee in the spring then got arrested Saturday and charged with second-degree assault. His future is uncertain even if his knee does heal by late September as he hopes.

The offensive line, once considered a strong point on the team, lost two starters when tackle David Bakhtiari left early for the NFL and guard Alex Lewis transferred to Nebraska — then got busted with Webb.

That leaves Wood, vastly improved with a terrific spring, again fending off redshirt freshman Shane Dillon and incoming freshman Sefo Liufau. MacIntyre must hope the starter is alive past Halloween.

But MacIntyre, as usual, had a story to tell about Colorado’s quarterback future. In 1979 his dad, George MacIntyre, had just inherited a 2-9 Vanderbilt team and they were playing at Auburn in Game 5.

In the second quarter his starting quarterback, Van Heflin, ruptures his spleen. On the next play, second-string quarterback Jeff Swab goes back to pass, gets clobbered and is knocked cold.

So MacIntyre turns to Whit Taylor, a 5-10 freshman who had both shoulders operated on the year before.

“So Whit’s on the sideline and keeping the clipboard,” Mike MacIntyre tells the crowd before turning to athletic director Mike Bohn, a former backup QB at Kansas, and says, “Mike Bohn, remember what that was? He has his ball cap on so Dad tells him, ‘Go get your helmet.’ He can’t find his helmet. Dad has to call a timeout.”

Whit finds his helmet but before sending him on the field, George MacIntyre tells him, “OK, Whit, now you’ve got to take your dip out.”

“I’ll never forget,” Mike MacIntyre says. “I still have a picture in their house now of Dad grabbing Whit’s facemask and pulling him over and Dad said, ‘I should’ve had something better to say than this but I just told him, DON’T GET HURT!’

“So he’s the third-team quarterback. He hadn’t practiced with the first-team offense at all. He’d been the scout team quarterback … 350 yards of total offense later on the No. 1 defense in the SEC, Whit Taylor ended up changing the face of Vanderbilt football. (Three) years later he’s the SEC Player of the Year.”

In 1982 they went 8-4 for their best record in 27 years and to their first bowl game in 12 years.

“So what I’m trying to say is, there is some Whit Taylor on Colorado’s team,” MacIntyre told the crowd. “And they might be one of our quarterbacks. But you never know until you throw a young man into battle and you see his character revealed. That taught me a great lesson that day.”

A side note on Whit, now assistant principal and athletic director at his alma mater, Central High in Shelbyville, Tenn.: In 1987 with the old Denver Dynamite of the Arena Football League, he became the first quarterback in the history of American football to throw for 10 touchdowns in a game. He later led Denver to victory in ArenaBowl I.

BOULDER — I couldn’t tell Mike MacIntyre’s mood concerning one of his quarterbacks getting booked for second-degree assault. I saw the first-year coach on three legs of Colorado’s Coaches Caravan Monday and he had only read the article about quarterback Jordan Webb and wayward guard Alex Lewis getting busted for allegedly beating an Air Force student unconscious.

MacIntyre said he wanted to read the full police report and see the official charges filed Wednesday. Then he wanted to investigate himself and check with university officials about any possible action.

He reserved judgment. He’s certainly lucky that, one, Webb, blew out his ACL this spring and won’t play until at least late September; two, Lewis announced Friday that he was transferring to Nebraska.

MacIntyre’s statement about Lewis’ arrest was quite telling: “Since he is no longer a Colorado Buffalo, it will be up to Nebraska to decide what discipline he might face.”

Classic read between the lines.

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Colorado coach Mike MacIntyre said senior quarterback Jordan Webb, who tore his anterior cruciate ligament in spring practice after starting most of last season, could return by the start of Pac-12 play next fall.

It was originally believed Webb would be lost for the year. Also, MacIntyre told Yahoo!Sports Radio that the NCAA was not going to grant Webb a sixth year.

“We’re hoping he’s back sometime in September and see how that goes for him,” MacIntyre told the Houston-based station. “He’s not going to be able to get a sixth year the way everything’s worked out so he’s got to push and try to get and help sometime this year.”

MacIntyre said on Monday’s Pac-12 coaches call covering spring practice. “We hope to have Jordan back two or three games into the season” which would get him back for Central Arkansas Sept. 7 or Fresno State Sept. 14.

Colorado opens conference play Sept. 28 at Oregon State.

Miguel Rueda, Colorado’s head trainer, confirmed MacIntyre’s optimism. Rueda said Webb is walking in a brace but is close to having a full range of motion.

“He had a great outcome with his surgery with Dr. (Eric) McCarty,” Rueda said. “A lot can happen between now and the first month of the season. We’re not ruling anything out. We’re comfortable with the progress he’s made.”

Rueda said many athletes respond to surgery different than others. Webb had his surgery April 18.

“With (receiver) Paul Richardson we were amazed on a weekly basis on how good he was doing,” Rueda said. “We have stages we assess and he was blowing through those stages.

“Jordan is kind of along that path, too. I’m not saying he’s going to be ready come Aug. 1 or Sept. 1. But I’m saying he looks really good.”

With Webb out and junior Nick Hirschman deciding to transfer, junior Connor Wood emerged as the No. 1 quarterback. However, MacIntyre said true freshman Sefo Liufau will get a chance to start when he arrives for fall camp from Tacoma, Wash.

“He’s big. He’s athletic. He can run. He can throw it. He’s smart,” MacIntyre said. “I’m excited to see what he can do. Hopefully, he’ll fit into everything and feel comfortable about our concepts.”

One thing MacIntyre does know is the importance of an emerging quarterback to a team coming off a 1-11 season.

“The quarterbacks here are going to have to step it up to get us in the right direction,” he said.

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Nelson Fishback, the Butte College QB who visited Colorado, committed to Western Kentucky Sunday.

He twittered, “After a lot of thought I have decided to attend Western Kentucky University.” He must be looking forward to a four-year school. A few hours later he twittered, “Wondering what these southern girls will think of a California boy like me.”

However, it doesn’t mean junior Connor Wood again has one less quarterback to compete against. According to Buffstampede.com, Colorado never offered Fishback a scholarship.

Fishback’s decision comes two days after junior Nick Hirschman, who was running close with Wood as No. 1 when spring ball ended Tuesday, announced he’ll transfer. It also comes less than two weeks after senior Jordan Webb, the starter most of last year, tore his ACL and is out for the season.

Left to compete against Wood will be red-shirt freshman Shane Dillon and sophomores Stevie Joe Dorman and John Shrock. Only Shrock has appeared in a game and he completed his only pass.

Expected to challenge Wood in fall camp is Sefo Liufau, who threw for 7,297 career yards and 68 touchdowns and led Bellarmine Prep in Tacoma, Wash., to the state finals.

BOULDER — Senior quarterback Jordan Webb came to Colorado’s practice Thursday, throwing the football with his one good leg and watching Nick Hirschman and Connor Wood battle it out for the starting job next fall.

Webb tore his ACL Tuesday when his cleat caught in the turf in a freak non-contact drill and is out for the season. He will apply for a sixth-year medical hardship and much of it depends on 2009. That was his freshman year at Kansas where he tore his abdominal muscle in fall camp and had to red-shirt.

For the NCAA to grant him a sixth year, he must prove that he was never healthy enough to play until at least late that season. The exact cutoff date is not clear. But he was in competition for the backup quarterback job and said the injury forced him to red-shirt.

“I feel like I should (get the extra year),” Webb said. “I feel if I don’t get another year then there’s a problem with how the rules work.”

Webb said he can’t remember the exact date he was declared healthy enough to play but he missed the redshirts’ developmental program the entire month of September.

Webb, who led the 1-11 Buffaloes with 1,434 yards and eight touchdowns last year, seemed in good spirits. That’s remarkable since Tuesday was his first practice back after reinjuring the thumb he broke late last season.

I asked him if he felt cursed.

“Sometimes,” he said. “You can’t think that way. It just wears on you. I always look at the bright side. I’m lucky to live in Boulder, Colo., get my education paid for and be around a great group of guys.”

If Webb does get his sixth year, he could leave Colorado with quite a resume — academically. He graduated early from Kansas which allowed him to take advantage of an NCAA rule allowing graduates to transfer and play immediately if they have a year eligibility left.

He said he’ll receive his master’s at Colorado next school year. If he gets a sixth year, he could work on another master’s in 2014-15.

I asked him how much tearing an ACL hurts.

“It was pretty excruciating the first couple of minutes,” he said. “Then it kind of went down. It wasn’t a fun couple of minutes.”

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BOULDER– Random thoughts after watching a 1-11 football team scrimmage against itself Friday:

* Maybe we expected too much from Shane Dillon. Maybe the redshirt freshman will surprise us in Colorado’s fall camp. But the highly touted quarterback is clearly running third behind Nick Hirschman and Connor Wood, the embattled juniors who couldn’t unseat Jordan Webb last year.

More telling was his first couple of series. He fumbled the first snap and got sacked on the second. In his next series, he had a gain of zero sandwiched in between two incomplete passes.

“It’s more than clear that Nick Hirschman and Connor Wood are leading the pack right now,” receiver Paul Richardson said. “They switch off working with our first group. I’d say they’re leading right now. Who ends up with the job? I have no idea.”

BOULDER — First-year Colorado coach Mike MacIntyre issued his first depth chart of spring practice Tuesday and the quarterback race didn’t have much of a surprise. The “pencil” depth chart listed four of the six quarterbacks as co-No. 1s.

While all are getting equal reps, they are listed as follows: senior Jordan Webb, junior Connor Wood, redshirt freshman Shane Dillon and junior Nick Hirschman. Fighting an uphill battle, or searching for a new position, are sophomores Stevie Joe Dorman and John Schrock.

Webb, the starter most of last season, has missed some practices with a sore thumb. He missed Tuesday’s when spring ball resumed after a one-week “spring break.” He is expected to return before the spring game April 13.

BOULDER — Blogs are endless but there may not be enough room in cyber space to list all of problems Mike MacIntyre faces as first-year coach at Colorado. However, it’s easy to see what No. 1 is.

Quarterback.

Spring practice begins Thursday and MacIntyre is hoping the next six weeks someone separates himself from the pack. In a 12-week season last year, no one really did.

“We’ll give all six of those quarterbacks a shot the first eight days,” MacIntyre said at Tuesday’s spring football kickoff press conference. “Then we’ll narrow it down to three and let them compete. We’ll give (incoming freshman) Sefo (Liufau) a chance to compete when he comes in. We have no true incumbent who threw for 4,000 yards.

BOULDER — I asked Colorado quarterbacks Nick Hirschman and Connor Wood about what senior linebacker Jon Major said after coach Jon Embree got fired. Major told me that the pro-set attack had to steep of a learning curve for the quarterbacks, meaning it was just too complicated.

The QBs appreciated Major’s support after a 1-11 season but wouldn’t come out and say it was too much to handle.

“It’s a pro offense,” Wood said. “That’s why they call it a pro-style offense. The pros do it. The terminology is going to be a little more complicated than an easy spread when you have just one or two words and you have your play.”

The offense really struggled and neither sophomores Hirschman nor Wood nor junior Jordan Webb, who started most of the year, had a handle on it. They finished 116th nationally in total offense (302.7 yards per game), 117th in scoring (17.8 points per game) and 119th in pass efficiency (102.61 rating).

“I think right when it first got installed, just the vernacular we were using was a lot more dense,” Hirschman said. “We kind of lightened it up going into this year. Every offense has plays that are confusing.”

Added Wood: “I can see how when you try to move fast, it’s hard with some of the terminology. But it wasn’t too bad.”

Quarterback Darell Garretson may consider transferring his commitment from San Jose State to Colorado if new Buffaloes coach Mike MacIntyre asks him, Chandler (Ariz.) High coach Shaun Aguano said Tuesday.

The 6-foot, 205-pound Garretson threw for 3,100 yards and 27 touchdowns with six interceptions in leading Chandler to a 7-4 record this past season. He’s the only three-star recruit among San Jose State’s 10 commitments and was an Arizona Republic first-team all-stater.

BOULDER — Colorado’s season ends Friday against visiting Utah and the biggest question at the final buzzer will be what assistant coaches survive what could go down as the worst season in school history.

Neither had ever been sole coordinators before taking these jobs last year and it has become woefully clear second-year coach Jon Embree, who’d also never even been a coordinator, needs more experience.

Before Saturday’s 38-3 loss to Washington, I heard from school insiders that Jeff Tedford is on Colorado’s radar.

TUCSON — Sophomore backup Nick Hirschman will start at quarterback for Colorado this morning at Arizona, the school announced about two hours before the 11:30 a.m. kickoff.

During practice this week, Hirschman beat out sophomore Connor Wood for the job to replace Jordan Webb, who’s last in the Pac-12 in pass efficiency at 107.2. In six games of relief this season, Hirschman is 13-of-29 for 160 yards with a touchdown and an interception.

Wood, the transfer from Texas, is 14-of-29 for 164 yards with two interceptions in five games.

Colorado is 1-8 and 1-5 in the Pac-12 and is trying to avoid the worst record in school history. Arizona (5-4, 2-4) will be bowl eligible if it wins. The Wildcats will also play a backup with junior B.J. Denker expected to replace senior Matt Scott, fourth in the nation in total offense, who’s doubtful with a concussion.

Terry Frei graduated from Wheat Ridge High School in the Denver area and has degrees in history and journalism from the University of Colorado-Boulder. He worked for the Rocky Mountain News while attending CU and joined the Post staff after graduation. He has also worked at the Oregonian in Portland, Ore., and The Sporting News. His seventh book, March 1939: Before the Madness, was issued in February 2014.